The rise in the eCommerce industry shouldn’t be ignored at any rate. After all, it seems to be one of the most profit spinning and ongoing business trends that has grabbed attention of both business owners as well as end-users in one go. I am sure you must have come across popular names such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Target, Walmart, Wish, Best Buy, etc? These are some of the best eCommerce development stores available across the globe. Do you want to be recognized soon? Well, the following eCommerce guide can certainly help your small business in gaining popularity in a short span of time.
Introduction to the eCommerce Realm
#1 Offer Personalized Experiences
#2 Omnichannel
#3 Convenience from both the ends
Benefits of eCommerce
A Step-By-Step Guide To Build an eCommerce store for Small Businesses
How to create a Magnificent eCommerce Site?
#1 Selecting the type of eCommerce Platform
#2 Budget
#3 Performance
#4 Secured Payments
#5 eCommerce Hosting
Types of the Best eCommerce Platforms
BigCommerce
Shopify
Magento
WooCommerce
Introduction to the eCommerce Realm
Can you recall the time regarding how retail businesses used to work when eCommerce was not even a buzzing term? Well, initially they were supposed to come up with a unique and intimidating product of course after considering their niche and market dynamics. Then they started promoting and marketing the same to flourish the company to the next level.
Today every small and large company has a large aspiration and trust me, there is nothing wrong with that. The only mistake that could possibly be made is not considering the eCommerce aspect or not jumping into the eCommerce bandwagon.
No wonder, the term has made its journey from being a buzzing term to a mainstream realm tendency. Also, as a consumer who doesn’t love shopping for lots and lots of apparel, accessories, and amenities and receiving them right at your doorsteps in a short span of time. In fact, the global eCommerce market size will be growing by around 14.7% up to 2027. Of course, all the credit goes to smartphone users who have started using digital tech for conducting several activities such as buying groceries, shopping for apparel, travel bookings, leisure and whatnot! The internet seems to have penetrated our lives like never before. Not to mention with the introduction to 5G technology, more and more positive growth can be expected.
Further, I would like to mention some crucial reasons behind the significant growth of the eCommerce industry. And why you should be jumping on the bandwagon right away.
#1 Offer Personalized Experiences
One of the obvious reasons behind sudden eCommerce growth is that you get to offer customized and personalized experience to your end users. Now I am sure you must have heard of the phrase – to understand them one must get into their shoes. Similarly, treat yourself as a customer and then see what would you like more. In today’s world of digitalization, nothing is impossible. From tracking relevant activities to offering personalized solutions to your end users, everything is possible. As a result, there is the least possibility of wastage and high return on investment. So yes one of the obvious yet vital reasons behind eCommerce growth is a personalized experience.
#2 Omnichannel
Another crucial reason behind the immense growth of the eCommerce industry is Omnichannel retailing. I am sure you must be knowing how eCommerce has surpassed the era of search engine optimization. In fact, businesses are found interacting with their customers using their respective websites or email, social networking sites and what not! Also, it does comprise of shopper-friendly shipping and return policies.
Simply, they have to purchase online and return if they don’t like the product or face any size issues. As an eCommerce business, it is very important to offer an extraordinary omnichannel customer experience. Also, make sure that you don’t have to offer any extra or hefty experiences.
#3 Convenience from both the ends
With the rise in the eCommerce industry, making physical purchases is quite out of fashion now. In fact, why choose any other alternative when eCommerce offers a 24/7 facility, 365 days shopping experience and no downtime? Whatever and whenever you wish to shop for, you can easily do so. So quick purchase, without the hassle of traffic, or awkward social interactions, what else do you want?
In fact, all this has led to instant thankfulness from the consumer’s perspective. Just make sure that your website is well-optimized and comprises fast loading speeds and of course a highly functional shopping cart.
Benefits of eCommerce
- Unlimited availability
- Access to wider consumers
- Provide a seamless shopping experience
- Targeted Marketing
- Easy Promotion
A Step-By-Step Guide To Build an eCommerce store for Small Businesses
Further, I would like to offer a small step-by-step guide that can be used while developing an eCommerce store for your small business venture. Of course, building an eCommerce website can be easier said than done. All you have to do is find a reliable eCommerce development company who are willing to put their feet out of their comfort zone and offer you the best possible solutions from their doorsteps.
In fact, do you really think competing with 20 million eCommerce websites could be an easy thing to do? Of course not! By reading away the following post and of course, keeping the below-mentioned steps in mind, it is quite possible. Unfortunately, I have seen many businesses, especially the newly commenced dropping off the eCommerce development race just because they aren’t well-informed and possess half-baked knowledge. And again competing with your competitors and having a strong online presence with your conventional brick-and-mortar project is a big No-No!
How to create a Magnificent eCommerce Site?
#1 Selecting the type of eCommerce Platform
The first and foremost thing you need to take into consideration is selecting the right type of eCommerce platform. Right from open source to SaaS and Headless commerce, there are a plethora of eCommerce platforms available around.
Open Source – First option is open source. This is quite a recommendable option you see. Since as the name suggests it’s free to use and install and of course, get started with. Well, it is quite obvious that choosing an open source platform does require unique coding skills. So make sure you consider hiring some of the best team of developers who knows how to make the most of open source platforms and incorporate intimidating features and security in the least amount of time.
SaaS – Another eCommerce platform that has to be taken into consideration is Software as a Service for ecommerce. Such platforms are quite known for their ease of use, scalability, and of course enhanced amount of security. In fact, with SaaS platforms handling logistics processing or checkout or payment processing is no longer an issue.
So what’s the concern here? Well, pricing turns out to be one of the major concerns here. Here you can either choose a monthly subscription fee, transaction fees, and expenses for plug-in apps. More or less, you can create a look and feel that highly reflects your brand like never before.
Headless Commerce – Last but certainly not least comes headless commerce. Have you ever used a content management system (CMS), digital experience platform (DXP), or progressive web app (PWA), this is what headless commerce is all about. With Headless Commerce, it is possible to market faster and lower the overall cost, keeping high-end security and PCI compliance in mind.
#2 Budget
No project can be accomplished without a proper budget. So it is very important to determine a budget in advance even before you start a project. Did you know that not having a budget strategy in mind can cause unwanted issues and problems? Even with proper budget constraints, you can have optimal solutions at your doorsteps.
#3 Performance
Of course, you are not creating an eCommerce store for no reason. So while conducting an eCommerce development project just ensure that it works wonders for your business. Choose an eCommerce platform that turns out to be easy to manage and load the page quickly. More or less, it can offer you great help in creating the best consumer experience.
#4 Secured Payments
Choose an eCommerce platform that offers high-end security. You see, protecting the data has become very important. With lots and lots of security breaches happening day in and day out, security has become one of the major concerns these days. Here you can consider SSL and PCI to avoid higher chances of attack.
#5 eCommerce Hosting
Another interesting aspect to take into consideration is eCommerce hosting. There are several types of eCommerce hosting platforms found such as the cloud. This is also called an offsite eCommerce hosting platform that enables businesses to manage the uptime and necessary updates, patches, and relevant upgrades. The next one is an on-premise platform. Here the company needs heavy space for the server, handles the installation, and makes sure that your site stays safe and secured for the long run.
Types of the Best eCommerce Platforms
- BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of the leading names to take into account when looking for the best eCommerce platform. Wondering why? Well, right from high-end scalability to 24/7 support, and pre-built features, the list of benefits offered by BigCommerce goes on and on. Not to mention it comprises multi-layered security for keeping the data highly safe and secured. Also, with Bigcommerce there is a huge possibility of creating API-driven experiences. Then why not choose BigCommerce?
- Shopify
The next interesting eCommerce platform to consider is Shopify. This one can be categorized among the SaaS solutions that are fully hosted and known for their speed and ease of use. Here you will come across a wide range of plugins. Moreover, you can even think of buying more if you need more. And you know what’s the best part here? Handling a high number of transactions with Shopify is simply great. So even if your website gets more and more traffic, Shopify can handle everything for you.
- Magento
Another interesting self-hosted solution that works wonders, especially in the eCommerce industry is Magento. The platform is available for free as well as, you can make use of its features and functionalities by paying further. Not to mention with Magento you do get an ample amount of creative freedom. Of course, Magento is a bit tricky platform so it is advisable to hire an expert who has great coding knowledge and knows how to leverage the platform at its best.
- WooCommerce
Last but certainly not the least one is WooCommerce. It’s an open-source plugin mainly used for WordPress. If you want to create an eCommerce site using WordPress, look no further than WooCommerce. This one is pretty flexible and offers an unimaginable amount of customization.
Final Words
On and all, eCommerce is pretty much in vogue and it doesn’t seem to slow down anytime soon. So as a business owner it is quite advisable for you to ride the wave or else you may lag behind to a great extent. Also, the eCommerce industry can deliver an experience that strengthens brands and creates a successful online store like none other.
So that’s all for now! In case, if you have some issues or queries, feel free to mention that in the comment section below. Also, do not forget to share the following post among your peers and help us in spreading the word.
